The Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2002 imposes obligations on businesses operating in the regulated sector (for example, banks and other financial institutions) to disclose knowledge or suspicion of money laundering to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). Such disclosure is known as a suspicious activity report (SAR).
International law firm Eversheds LLP recently gathered together senior City executives and canvassed their views concerning the City’s regulatory framework. The results clearly demonstrate that, while the City is broadly in favour of compulsory regulation, the generally held view was that the current uncertain regulatory landscape – particularly around international regulation – is creating a …
Continue reading “The future regulatory landscape: the City gives its verdict”
The ‘contaminated land regime’ contained within Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (Part IIA) will be familiar to many in-house lawyers within business sectors such as manufacturing, minerals, land development, property, waste management, chemicals, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals, and myriad other businesses whose operations may have impacted the quality of land in the UK. …
In County Leasing Asset Management Ltd & anor v Michael Green Plant Ltd & ors [2012] the Court of Appeal considered an appeal from Hampton J in the Northampton County Court on the correct measure of damages for a claim in negligent misrepresentation. The case presents an opportunity to revisit the rules on this area …
In 2011 the government introduced a number of significant changes to the UK immigration regime that were aimed at reducing net migration by limiting the number of non-EU migrants permitted to come to the UK. Within the ‘high-value’ Tier 1 (Investor) and Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) categories, however, the opposite has been true. We have witnessed …
With the renewed focus on the criminal law brought about by the arrival of the Bribery Act 2010, in-house counsel may be forgiven for thinking that they are fully up to date with the potential consequences of corporate involvement in illegal activity. However, as we move through 2012, the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has already …
Continue reading “How far will the SFO go to recover the proceeds of crime?”
You are the general counsel of a company that is the corporate sponsor of a substantial defined benefit pension scheme. The trustees of the scheme consult the company in relation to a revised statement of investment principles. You notice that the statement proposes substantial investments in infrastructure assets. You want to know what risks this …
Continue reading “Pension fund investment in infrastructure: managing the potential risks”
The government’s widely anticipated water white paper ‘Water for Life’, released in December last year, sets out Defra’s vision for future water management: ‘… in which the water sector is resilient… water companies are more efficient and customer focused, and… water is valued as the precious and finite resource it is’.
Those with an interest in the Scottish political and legal system will have been aware since the middle of last year that there would at some point in the life of the current Scottish Parliament be a referendum on the question of Scottish independence. The current Scottish National Party (SNP) administration achieved, against all odds …
Continue reading “Scotland’s constitutional future: countdown to the referendum”
In this article, we discuss two recent decisions made in the course of the Leveson inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press in order to highlight the particular issues facing those involved in public inquiries – and the difficult balancing exercises faced by the chairman in protecting the interests of individuals and …